It was unknown whether it was because he now finished his revenge, or something entirely different...

.

.

.

Urgh!

A light groan escaped Blade's lips as an expression of disgust appeared on his face while he groggily got up to his feet.

His crystal blue eyes squinted while the foul stench almost made him throw up.

He was unsure how long it had been since he fell unconscious, but the area which surrounded Blade was now filled with flies as the bodies of the city lord along with the others were mysteriously, already rotting...

The bodies of Blade's dead enemies now seemed to have been dead for many months causing Blade great confusion.

"Did I sleep for soo long...?"

With his current situation and the appearance of the bodies, Blade had no other choice but to think that he had slept for a rather long time.

The fact that his right hand had already healed and even the strength brimming throughout his body was multiple levels higher than when he was last conscious, made Blade think that months had passed while he was unconscious.

"No, not that much time has passed, actually it has been most probably a few hours since these bodies had lost life.

As someone living on this planet, I am surprised that you are surprised by the fact that these bodies have rotted away in a few hours...even going on to think something as unrealistic as sleeping for months...?"

THRUM!

Suddenly, and to the great shock of an unsuspecting Blade, a deep male voice powerfully resounded in Blade's surroundings.

Immediately, a sense of fear crept into Blade's heart as all his senses warned him that the entity that was located behind him, was many, many, times stronger than the current him...!

Slowly, Blade turned around to see the appearance of the figure behind him. The figure had short blonde hair with a pair of sharp sword-like eyebrows. His piercing green eyes seemed to peer into any and every secret of Blade.

On his face was an obsidian gas mask that reminded Blade of his home world, and the tight-fitted tactical clothing the figure was adorned with made it possible to perceive his well-defined muscles.

Blade instantly took a few steps back when those pair of green eyes met his pair of crystal blue. Even though he tried to hide it, the fear visible in his eyes wasn't able to be hidden from the figure who we knew as Adrian.

Bam!

The hard concrete wall knocked Blade out of his fearful state as he realized he had nowhere to step back. While he thought of this though, the figure of Adrian disappeared from Blade's view.

"Your eyes...they sure are beautiful..."

With his gas mask disappearing in an instant after mysteriously appearing a few inches in front of Blade, Adrian brought his face even closer to Blade's own as he commented on the appearance of Blade's eyes.

"If that wasn't enough, your long fluttering hair, and your slender waist. If I didn't see you naked, I would have thought of you as a female...!"

Adrian continued complementing Blade's appearance, causing Blade to fear for his future. One may want to know what could ever be worse than death...? This was worse than death! Blade though, even if he needed to use his body to escape from Adrian's grasp alive, would do it without hesitation.

'I would always get my revenge. It matters not how strong you are...Adrian...!' Blade thought in his mind while his body trembled from the light touch of Adrian's fingers.

[Name: Adrian Silver]

[Title: Unrecorded]

[Ability: Bronze Manipulation]

[Race: Human]

[Lifespan: Unrecorded]

[Gender: Male]

[Body Cultivation: Unrecorded]

[Soul Cultivation: Unrecorded]

[Notice: A presently unknown individual who should not be taken lightly. The current strength of the host is completely useless in this lifeform's eyes...]

With these words floating on the screen in front of his eyes, Blade's eyes flashed with a dangerous light as he found another reason to quickly raise his strength.

"Hehe, don't gaze at me with killing intent in your eyes, you'll make me sad..."

While smirking, Adrian uttered as he turned around and approached the city lord's dead body. The gas mask once more appeared on his face as he then went on to say...

"On a more serious note, the cause for this is because this planet is very close to dying...!"

THRUM!

Blade's eyes bulged when these words entered his ears as his body unintentionally shivered. He was unsure what would happen when a planet died, but what he was sure about, was that it would not be something good.

"The many deaths of lifeforms on this planet caused Death energy to seep into this planet's very core.

The constant wars in the main continents, and the massacres and endless slaughters in these waste continents slowly stack up Death energy that then goes on to corrupt the core of this planet.

The core which is the residence of an almost infinite source of Life energy that one would use to raise their cultivation would be corrupted by the Death energy.

Not only would diseases become more abundant, and would be able to harm even strong cultivators, but the bodies of those who die would also rot away faster and faster.

The Life energy contained inside of a living entity would be devoured by the Death energy, raising its strength and quickening the speed at which the planet's core is fully corrupted."

THRUM!!

With Adrian's words being processed by Blade's brain, a feeling of hopelessness found itself slowly growing in Blade.

'So it wasn't just this continent. It truly was the whole world... Why, do they realize what they're doing to their own home...?!'

Adrian smiled when seeing Blade's expression. He then continued.

"With the deaths of cultivators who contain Life energy many times more massive than those of ordinary humans, the speed at which this world dies consistently increases.

The more cultivators there are, the faster the world would die since, the more cultivators there are, the more wars there'll be.

As a cultivator, the ultimate goal would naturally be to become the strongest, and to get the resources to become the strongest, climbing over the dead bodies of other cultivators would be natural.

If all cultivators die, then the death of this planet would be very, very far from now.

Yet, the planet's death would still be inevitable...

It would take place once there are sentient lifeforms present since living beings with intelligence all have emotions. And with emotions comes envy and jealousy. In a burst of anger, a human would go on to kill another human.

Thereafter, Death energy would once more slowly gather until it finally overthrows Life energy."

Adrian's words once more drummed in Blade's mind.

'As expected. No matter what, life is always a problem. Without Life, there would be Life energy, and with Life, there will be Death.

Yet, all of this doesn't explain the reason for this person's appearance in front of me. If he wanted to kill me, why would he have such a long speech about the consequences of killing...?' Blade thought.

"And this is where we come in. We do not care what level you have reached in cultivation.

We do not care how strong the lifeforms on a planet are.

We do not bother to spare the normal mortals.

Planets that are about to die will be reborn when we appear on them!"

As the words of Adrian drummed in Blade's mind, the golden aura began permeating the surroundings. Blade's attention was then once more drawn toward Adrian, as he said.

"We are the Cosmic Punisher Agency and we are the ones who oversee the safety of the universe that you live in...!

Our goal for appearing on this planet was to reform the order of this plane, but before we do such actions, like all other missions, we were told to scout for any hidden talent. As of now, there are only three people on this planet who have caught our eyes.

Luckily for you, one of these three persons was you... Yet, similarly to the other two, you also lack the strength to be accepted into the Cosmic Punisher Agency.

This is the reason for my meeting with you anyway. It is to inform you that the current rate at which you increase your strength is too slow.

By the time you reach the qualification level, the time limit for us to stay in this world would be over, and all life on this planet would be extinct...including yours!!"

THRUM!!!

'What utter madness. Do you think my life is something that can be played with?!'

Blade's thoughts began running wild while his expression became cold. Even though he tried to hide it, Adrian was able t still sense the intent to kill from Blade's eyes... Adrian's eyes lit up when seeing it as he then calmly said.

"Why gaze at me with those eyes. I am not heartless and have already prepared a way for you to become stronger..."

With his hand gesturing for Blade to approach him, Adrian eased Blade's worries by just a little.

Even if Blade was slightly apprehensive at the thought of trusting this figure, Adrian was leagues above Blade's strength, and Blade knew this, so he had no choice but to follow Adrian's command and approach him.